


Whatever it Takes

by Seastar98



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Character Death, Hunger Games AU, Lots of character death, M/M, games start in chapter 5, it's a hunger games AU you should expect that, nothing gory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-02 17:21:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14549574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seastar98/pseuds/Seastar98
Summary: Light had a good life in District 2. He never expected his name to be drawn.L had...well, not a bad life in District 6. He never expected to volunteer to be tribute.Both are determined to work the change in circumstances to their advantage, but there was something neither of them considered. Light never thought he would meet someone he could consider an equal. L never thought he would find someone he could call a friend.It was too bad that one of them would inevitably kill the other.(AKA, the Hunger Games AU no one asked for but now exists)





	1. The Reaping

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Zugzwang](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1711553) by [labasu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/labasu/pseuds/labasu). 



Light Yagami stood calmly with his year mates as the reaping continued. He tuned out the boring speech, he'd already heard it every year since he turned twelve. He was seventeen. There would only be one more time he'd have to go through this bullshit. It was unlikely he would be picked, and he had to put on a confident face for Sayu, who he glanced back to see watching him nervously.

Both their names were only in their once. Their family did not struggle for food, not with their father as one of the higher ups in the peacekeeper ranks. Not in District 2.

If she were his little brother he'd volunteer for her in a heartbeat. As it was, he made sure there was always a girl ready to volunteer should an…unworthy individual happen to be picked to represent their home. If he just so happened to paint his younger sister as one of them at his prep school, where he was number one ranked, then them choosing to participate in the games was not his fault. 

It was, after all, an honor to die in the name of peace.

Just not an honor he was interested in having. Number one ranked or not. 

No one could be certain of victory in the games. He was certain he could earn sponsors, that he would be entertaining enough that the public would be outraged should he die by any means other than another's hand…no, he knew himself well. He had kept the dark side of him hidden for his entire life.

He was the light of district 2. He would join the peacekeepers and lead Panem into a brighter future. 

He was everything he was expected to be and more. He would not risk his perfectly crafted mask to the insanity of the games. Victors were never allowed to pursue real careers once they won. They turned to means of escape. Alcohol, sex, drugs, whatever it took to survive being paraded around the country as an idol. He was not like the idiots closer to the capitol.

He saw things for what they truly were, not for how he was told to perceive them.

That didn't stop him from saying what they wanted to hear, but in his heart, he hated all of them. They glorified murder. They talked nonsense as they laughed over children killing each other. It was a good thing he had learned to control his emotions early, or he feared what he would have brought upon himself.

As much as he loathed the way society was, he was powerless to change it.

What chance did him rebelling have of changing anything in District 2? What would happen to his father, a peacekeeper, a blind supporter of the law, should he take any action the President disliked? What would happen to his mother, his sister? 

No, rebelling was for those who didn't have anything left to lose but their lives.

They lived in a society ruled by fear, that fear reinforced annually through the games. 

Perhaps this was the only form of peace humanity could have? 

All records of civilizations before Panem had not survived the wars that had created their current government. He had seen in the games and through his father's work the dark side of human nature. There were scum, and it was only though a show of force that the scum didn't drag the rest of humanity down with them.

It was uncertain what a successful rebellion would replace the current government with anyways, and he was not one to take leaps of faith. Better to stick with what they had than create something worse.

"Light Yagami!"

He blinked, but plastered on a confident smile. His name being called was unexpected and unwanted. He forced his body to move as his mind calmed itself. The game began as soon as his name was called. The camera footage of him walking to the stage would be aired in the upcoming days, the first glance the sponsors would have at him, though many already knew of him.

They had thought he might volunteer the last few years after all.

"Light!" He heard his sister scream, and he stopped.

It wouldn't be out of character for him to comfort her, and it would garner sympathy.

The peacekeeper hesitated to touch him as he turned around, "You need to go to the stage, Mr. Yagami."

"In a minute." He walked to where his sister was breaking free of the crowd, sending a look at the other peacekeepers that made them freeze. Good. Let everyone realize he was someone they needed to respect. It would make it easier to cement his spot in the Career pack, for however long they might be useful to him. If they were useful at all.

He picked his sister up in a tight hug, a subtle display of strength, both of purpose and body. A person with someone to fight for was always stronger than those who gave in to despair. He could feel her tears wetting his shirt, "I'm going to come home, Sayu." He said in a reassuring voice, just loud enough to be picked up by the microphones that were everywhere.

"You better." She sniffled, "Otherwise…otherwise I'm gonna kick your butt."

He didn't bother pointing out the logical fallacies of such a statement, but he chuckled, kissing the top of her head, "Watch out for Mom and Dad for me, okay?"

"Just until you come back." She reluctantly let go, looking up into his eyes, "You can do this, big bro!"

"I will." He let his own eyes get watery, "I promise."

He turned away, letting a little of his internal anguish show. He was confident in his abilities, but who knew what the gamemaker was thinking this year? There were the occasional years where they deliberately targeted the Career group, wanting to make the game more 'fair' to those of the outer districts. Appeasement years. If he was unlucky enough to end up in one…

No, he could adapt. He could make it alone if need be, and from the amount of crying girls around him, he could seduce a competitor, or a sponsor, to get what he wanted. 

If he played his cards right, it was unlikely he would have to get his own hands dirty, that he could get through this and still be himself.

He was the light of District 2. 

His people were the ones that filled their ranks, they were the ones raised near weapons, born to be fighters. He had the advantage in training, in charms, even in connections. His father would be devastated should he die, and he knew plenty of wealthy people who respected him. The only ones that posed a threat to him were the two from District 1, and 4 should it be an arena where swimmers had an advantage.

Before he could be ushered away into the building, he turned and offered the people a proper peacekeeper salute.

It was promptly returned by everyone. 

"I'm glad you were chosen." Kiyomi Takada informed him as they walked down the hall together. He raised his eyebrows and she blushed, "I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I only meant that you will perform admirably."

"The better we fight, the more honor we bring onto our home." He replied, reaching out to touch her shoulder. He'd known her for most of his schooling, she definitely was one of his fangirls even if she managed to stay politely quiet about it, "You are going to be a worthy adversary."

"Or ally." She smiled teasingly.

"Or ally." He agreed.

They were soon separated, giving him time to think again. Kiyomi was much like himself, which could be dangerous. So long as she believed his affection for her was genuine, she wouldn't betray him. He just had to make sure no one put doubt into her mind. He stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't make any plans until he saw the competition and the arena itself. 

He didn't support the games, not in his heart. He was disgusted at the thought of having to kill someone innocent. Criminals, sure, he was training to be a peacekeeper after all, but kids younger than him? Kids Sayu's age? Children that were innocent?

Though again, wasn't that the point? That anyone could die in this country, regardless of whether or not they were good? That their children could be taken from them and fashioned to die…that inspired more fear than mass capital punishment could.

It worked. 

But if he won…that would give him power. That would make him untouchable.

He wouldn't be able to win without killing. He could try to avoid it, but he was from District 2. No gamemaker would let him get by without forcing him to stain his hands with innocent blood. 

Was he willing to murder so that he could win? So that he could become an idol in this country? Basically a god? Was it even murder if it wasn't against the law? The games were sanctioned sacrifice. Nothing was against the rules in them.

The door opened, and he put those thoughts aside for later. 

Winning would cost him his soul, but was it worth it if he could actually do something meaningful afterwards?

***********************************************

"It's Reaping Day." Near informed them unenthusiastically.

L glanced at him in the mirror, then continued to wash the oil off his hands. It would be his final one, and he wondered if his luck would hold out. Their family wasn't exactly poor, not with Mr. Wammy's inventions being an essential part of the transportation industry, but he didn't seem to understand how expensive every mouth he took in was. 

That was why his name was in the reaping so many times.

That was why it was a miracle he'd never been chosen as tribute.

This was his last year, and then the responsibility of bringing in the extra food would be divided between Mello, Matt, and Near. He secretly hoped that if one had to be chosen, it would be the blond, because he honestly didn't need the excuse of the games to murder people, but he worried nonetheless for the upcoming years. He put on a clean shirt and tried to look presentable.

Not that he cared about presentation.

District 6 had its fair share of winners, but it was an often overlooked district. Most people travelled by train unless they were peacekeepers or from close to the capitol. For the peacekeepers vehicles they were barely allowed to do more than make the basic vehicle, all weaponry was added in District 2. It made for a very frustrating lack of supplies needed to rebel.

Was he planning a rebellion? 

Certainly. He and Matt had spent the last few years building a computer that would put them in contact with District 13 without alerting the authorities. Since Wammy had so many inventions lying around, the peacekeepers hardly noticed it. The computer was a long way away from being able to hack into anything important, but he had hope.

What the government was doing was wrong. What their society had been led to believe was abhorrent. There was no entertainment to be found in watching children kill each other, there was no true peace that could be achieved through fear. 

Not all power should be centered on one man.

If he had his way, he would overthrow the President and reinstate a democracy.

Yet his way would take a long time, and for now his movements were restricted to his District. The main issue they had was the lack of communication. Many people also hated the way they were living, but they kept it to themselves, they were too afraid of being alone in their thoughts to dare act on them. If he could start a conversation without it leading to death…

Then he could spark a rebellion.

"Do you think you'll be picked?" Matt asked as he cleaned his face with a towel.

"I haven't so far." L shrugged, "And you know what to do if I am."

Just as the government shouldn't be dependent on one man, neither should his plan.

He could not say that he would perform well in the games. Even if it was his life on the line he would not kill for their entertainment, he would not grovel for their sponsorship. That put him at a severe disadvantage when faced with opponents from wealthier districts. He couldn't think of the last time that someone had won the games without resorting to murder…

He thoughts drifted to B. The boy who would have been his replacement should he have been chosen. It was two years since his Backup had been reaped, two years since he watched his descent into insanity. He violently killed three of the other children, carved up their bodies after they died as a deliberate challenge to the capitol. 

He'd caused a small spark, but it hadn't caught.

For that, the gamemakers killed him.

The winner had to be someone the country could idolize afterwards.

It couldn't be someone like Beyond. It couldn't be someone everyone could tell would continue to kill once the games were over. 

It wouldn't be someone like him either. 

In all likelihood, he would anger someone during the days leading up to the arena and die at the cornucopia. 

That was all if he was picked. 

"You better not die." Mello scowled as he fixed Matt's collar. They didn't go out of their way to please the government, but they didn't want to draw attention to themselves yet.

"I don't intend to." He said blankly as he reluctantly pulled his shoes on.

"The probability of your name being pulled-" He held up a hand to stop Near's accurate calculations.

"If my name is pulled, it's pulled." It was a risk, but something they had no control over. It was more important for those in their house live to see the next year than his life, "Everyone dies eventually."

"But you shouldn't die like this." Mello growled.

L paused slightly. The boys had always showed that they cared about him more than he thought they should. He had never tried to be an older brother to them. If anything, he was their mentor and they were his insurance that even if he died, by the games or the peacekeepers, that what he stood for wouldn't fade to nothing. Emotional attachment in that situation…

Perhaps it was just him. 

He had been alone for a long time, and even with A and B closer in age to him he'd never gotten attached. He'd never considered them friends. He avoided being too close to the younger trio after what happened to the duo. Adam couldn't handle the pressure and took his death into his own hands and Beyond lost his mind as well. 

Overall, not a good track record for those that got close to him.

He shook his head as they piled into the car and he drove them to the reaping. In the end, the cause mattered more than the people fighting for it. They would all give their lives without hesitation if it was necessary. 

The ceremony passed as it always did, with the fear so poignant no one dared mourn for the unfortunate girl chosen. It wasn't someone he recognized. 

He waited to hear his name, but it didn't come.

"Mail Jeevas."

That was Matt's real name, the name he was born with. Not the name he'd chosen to go under when they started their illegal (but morally superior) activities. That way, even if communications were intercepted, they could remain anonymous.

"I volunteer." He stepped forward immediately.

Matt was the one who understood the computer better, he was the one with better odds of hacking into something important. Not to mention Mello would be uncontrollable should he die. He didn't think Matt would be able to win. They were all trained to survive in a fight, but his area of interest had always been technology, and that was always lacking in the arena. 

No, he may not view them in the same light they viewed him, but they were important to the mission. The three of them could go further than he could alone, and maybe they'd be inspired to fight harder if he died.

When he died was more realistic.

"No!" He heard Mello shout, breaking the tense silence. 

He didn't turn back as he took to the stage. From here on, he was part of the game. A game where any misstep could lead to his death. He had to look strong, and that meant not allowing children to cling to him. The peacekeepers wouldn't allow it anyways. It was supposed to be an honor to participate in the games, people from wealthier districts volunteered for it.

He had been comfortable hiding behind a fake name, hiding behind a screen, as he went against the government. They had forced him to take action in person. Those who were defiant didn't last long in the games.

But they had never met him.

He wondered what he would come up with to infuriate the President.

He smiled slightly as he looked directly into the camera. He wasn't afraid to die. If they thought Beyond was bad, they truly were out of their depths with him. Whether that promised a quicker death or garnered him support…no, it didn't matter.

The games were watched by everyone. If he could create a big enough event that the cameras had no choice but to film him…then he could air a message to all the citizens of Panem. 

He could work this to his advantage.

He sat as he usually did on the couch as he waited for his last visitors. He wouldn't kill for their entertainment, but he wouldn't survive if he didn't kill in self-defence. It was murder either way. The taking of a life was evil, regardless of the justification. He knew he should prepare himself to take them, there was no way his rebellion would be bloodless, but…

He wouldn't kill for them. He wouldn't kill for the Capitol.

If he could take out the Careers, show the other districts that simply because they were thought of as lesser didn't make them lesser…

The door opened, and he put those thoughts aside for later. He had a week until the games began.

In a month, it was likely he'd be dead.

He'd do all he could for his cause before then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know peacekeepers aren't supposed to have families but I thought it fitting and since I'm already messing with the ages of most of the characters...yeah, not the worst thing in the world to fiddle with the details.
> 
> I've got a basic outline of the story in my head, but I haven't written it yet so any suggestions are welcome.
> 
> Also, what would be considered the difference between major and minor character death for Death Note?
> 
> Really looking forward to writing this so thank you to anyone reading it!


	2. First Meetings

L was staring.

He wasn't ashamed to admit it either. Everyone was staring, because it was impossible not to look at the beautiful boy from District 2. Whoever did his costume and makeup should definitely be rewarded, for while it was normal for those tributes to be dressed as gods, it was rare that the human eye could be tricked into believing there were gods amongst them.

He rode on his chariot with all the confidence of a deity. His head was held high, his hair slightly swaying beneath the laurels he wore. He wished he could have seen him in the usual gold, but he agreed with the decision to have his outfit largely be red. He also agreed with the decision for there to be distinctly less cloth involved. The red went wonderfully with his tan.

"They told us to wave." The girl from his district, who he hadn't bothered to learn the name of, hissed.

"I highly doubt they are looking at us." He muttered, relieved that no one would pay attention to their sequins outfits. Honestly, what were they supposed to do with transportation? At least they weren't the lumbar district. If they had tried to dress him up as a tree he would have stripped.

As it was, he was still tempted to strip. He did not like being paraded about like a trophy. It wasn't like they would kill him before the games started…

No. They'd likely just set off his landmine and claim he tried to leave his platform early.

He sighed, turning his thoughts back to the perfect teen. He still had his sights set forward, determined and not distracted by the roar of the crowd around him. He looked superior to all humanity in that moment, but his beauty told him nothing about the young man himself. He was athletically built, but did he have brains to match his brawn or was he another dim-witted warrior?

He would have to look him up later.

He was not the only one looking sideways as the opening ceremony came to a close and their chariots took them to the building they would be staying. The tributes from District 1 were already speaking to those from 2 as he gladly stepped down from the carriage. In his focus on the young man he didn't notice the peacekeeper trying to lead him away until they shoved him.

That got the young man's attention. He looked over, and oh, he would be the death of him.

He had warm, auburn eyes that went well with the red theme of his outfit, but it wasn't their color or their appeal that spelled out his doom. No, he saw the intelligence there. Like recognized like. He saw the glimmer of curiosity in the other's eyes, and he only stared owlishly back. He was then distracted by the girl from his home, and the moment ended.

If it could be called a moment at all. He was sure he barely registered on the future career's radar.

Once on the safety of his own floor, he turned on the television. As expected, the media's focus was on the perfect being that had been on display at the opening ceremony. The newscaster quickly went into detail about him.

Light Yagami. 

Of course that would be his name. It couldn't be something normal.

He was the son of a peacekeeper of some renown and importance. Souichiro Yagami.

That was a name he knew. 

The man was honorable, as far as any peacekeeper could be. He was fair when upholding the law and didn't stand for corruption in his ranks. That meant that people got away with a lot less when it came to the black market, but it also meant that the officers did not abuse their power as much. 

They still abused it, yes, but Wammy had told him it would be far worse without that man.

How much of that moral fortitude had passed on to his son? 

Good man or not, the older Yagami followed and enforced the laws. Even those that were unjust.

Light likely followed suit, though he had hope that such intelligence would see through the indoctrination of their countrymen. It was a hope he could not chance pursuing, even if the son of such a high ranking peacekeeper could provide valuable intelligence. 

Only one of the twenty four young people in the building would be able to survive this.

They showed the video of his reaping. He saw the half second of dismay show on the teen's face before he masked it. He saw the way he hesitated on the way forward, his response to the younger girl yelling for him the opposite of his own. He had turned to go embrace her, the reporters revealing that was his younger sister. 

It was like this boy was made to participate in the games.

They went on to show his peacekeeper salute, a show of loyalty to the country, the president. He watched as it was returned as a show of respect to the young man.

Charismatic, handsome, skilled…the clear favorite to win.

The capitol would love to parade him around the country.

"He's going to be trouble." Aiber, his mentor, muttered as he leaned on the couch, "I'd stay away from him if you can."

"Stay away?" He wondered. 

"You have nothing to offer him in an alliance, kid." The man who'd won his year purely on his ability to con the others into said alliances informed him, "He'll have his first pick of everything."

It was left unsaid that he wouldn't be anybody's first pic.

His best bet, according to his mentor, was to try and fly under the radar. As many allies as he could gain from drawing attention to himself…he'd likely gain just as many enemies. Not to mention the definite killer intent he'd receive from the others if they thought he was trying to ingratiate himself with this year's favorite.

He was a volunteer, yes, and that made him slightly interesting, but he wasn't emotional enough to play up the older brother card.

The odds were not in his favor.

"How much of that is an act?" He asked the conman, still uncertain if he would take his advice.

Aiber narrowed his eyes at the screen, "I can't tell."

Hm. He reluctantly went to bed. The next day brought the first day of training. He was decently skilled at hand to hand combat and with firearms, but it was unlikely the latter would be included in the arena. No, it was always the more primitive weapons. Blades, spears, bows and arrows. He could fight well enough with any weapon, he supposed.

But that wasn't the purpose of the training sessions.

It was the best chance he'd have of sizing up his competition before they were actively trying to kill each other. It was also their chance to see what he was capable of. He could be labelled a threat, or easy prey. It was a fine line to walk…

That was, until he remembered that he didn't care. He wouldn't let the games change him.

He noticed Light reading up on plants, not revealing his preference of weapon yet. He was easily flipping through the pages, and if he didn't suspect him of being capable of reading that fast he would have thought he'd gone there to be left alone. Well, if he wanted to be left alone he should have picked a harder task to occupy his time with.

"Light Yagami." He said, and the younger man didn't look up, "Son of Souichiro Yagami." His pace noticeably slowed, but he still didn't look at him, "It must be hard…"

His incomplete statement finally earned him another glimpse into those eyes. They were carefully blank, and any interest he'd noted the day before was replaced with annoyance. He marked his page and closed the book without looking away, "What is hard?" He asked in a cool, confident tone, "L Lawliet."

So he'd done his research as well. Not that there was much to be known about him.

"Maintaining that mask of perfection." He said with a small smirk as the annoyance grew.

The teen was slightly taller than him, but he wasn't cowed by his unconscious attempt at intimidation. Light considered him for a moment, before smiling a fake, but no less charming, smile, "You think I'm perfect?"

"I think you are acting perfect." He shrugged, not letting him control the conversation, "I wonder how long the mask will hold up in the games."

"Until my death or victory, I suppose." The boy from District 2 matched his nonchalance, "Since it isn't an act."

There were no tells that he was lying. He tilted his head, "It must be an act."

"Why is that?" Light asked.

"Because no one is that perfect." A flicker of surprise, and the annoyance lessened slightly. It figured that someone who took great pride in their appearance would have a soft spot for genuine flattery, though pursuing that line would get him nowhere.

"Yet here I am." The teen raised his eyebrows.

"Yet here you are." He agreed.

"Is this…filth, bothering you, Light?" They both turned to see the girl from District 1 approaching with the other future careers.

Misa Amane. She had been the second biggest story after Light Yagami. She had a budding career as a model, and the fashion industry was mourning her potential loss. She hadn't struck him as particularly bright or skilled, but she had a way with the people around her. It hadn't even been a day but the girl from District 4, Rem something or other, was already acting as a sort of bodyguard.

Kiyomi Takada was also staring at him in disgust, as if it were some great sin to speak to the boy from her district. Again, she didn't strike him as a particularly dangerous opponent except in terms of her alliance. Specifically, her loyalty to Light. In the end, even with his combat experience, he was only one person. A group would overwhelm him eventually. 

Mikami Teru was lingering on the outskirts of the group. While he wore glasses, there was nothing about him that suggested weakness. He had seen him earlier with a spear. It was unnerving to watch him run through the simulation, each successful attack accompanied by an utterance of the word "Delete". He saw someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill if he thought it right.

"He's no bother." Light kept that fake smile as he turned to his allies, "We're both trying to get to know our competition."

"That is the purpose of the training days, is it not?" L added.

"I knew that." Misa crossed her arms, "Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot."

Her insulted behavior seemed to please Kiyomi. Another piece of this increasingly elaborate puzzle fell into place. Of course the girl from District 2 would be enamoured by the boy from her home. And it appeared the model already staked her claim on him as well. He would be amused if that didn't make his life harder.

Love made people act irrationally. It meant they would do anything Light asked of them, especially if he hinted that the action would make them more pleasing to him than their competition should they be successful.

They would easily kill for him. 

They would gladly die for him.

"Any slight you perceive was unintended." He said because there was nothing he had to apologize for. 

"Hmph." She crossed her arms.

"Light." Kiyomi moved closer, "Perhaps you could show me that trick again with the throwing knives?"

"Of course." The teen glanced at him, but didn't speak to him again as he followed his allies.

Well, he'd gone and done exactly what Aiber had told him not to do. But he was curious to know what he was like outside the arena, even if he wouldn't know what he was like outside of the games themselves. He watched him help the girl's form, standing too close and pressing their bodies together. It was effortless for him to wrap people around his finger. 

He was certain he was the only one to catch the glimmer of disgust when she turned further into him.

"Are they all idiots?" A younger girl muttered as she stopped next to him, "They do understand only one of us makes it out of this alive, right?"

"We aren't in the games yet." He replied, "And alliances are certainly helpful in the earlier days."

The girl scoffed, "As long as I make it past the first bloodbath I'll be fine."

He turned to look at her. She was small, smaller than Misa was, but also blond. She noticed his look and he extended a hand, "L, District 6."

"Wedy." She shook it, "District 7."

He nodded, "You made a rather amusing tree."

"And you looked ridiculous in sequins." She offered a half-smile and they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"That alliance is too strong." L turned his gaze back to them, "As soon as they realize that they will turn on each other."

"Not if Yagami can keep them controlled." Wedy frowned, "If anyone could, it's him."

He quite agreed with that. 

"My mentor told me to stay away from him entirely." He watched as Light corrected Misa's stance with a bow and arrow, pulling nearly the same trick he had with Takada. If he could successfully balance the two girl's affections…no, there was no if about it. 

"So you're not good at following orders." She crossed her arms.

"I'd much rather follow a plan of my own making." Though this wasn't part of his plan either. He intended to cause the alliance's fall, to lead them to destruction, to show the rest of Panem they weren't all powerful. To do that, he needed to be aware of all their strengths and weaknesses. The others were intentionally showing off during training, trying to intimidate and impress.

Except Light, and he was their leader. He was the one he had less than a week to understand before he became his enemy.

If they weren't considered enemies already.

"You're insane." Wedy muttered, "Don't drag me down with you."

He smirked and approached the dangerous teen again. He was analysing the training weapon with Kiyomi, who had once again regained his attention. He noticed his approach and trailed off in his conversation. His eyebrows raised again, "Can I help you with something, L?"

"Yes." He smirked, "A spar, if you wouldn't mind. Single weapon each."

"We aren't allowed to fight each other." Kiyomi said.

"I didn't say fight. I said spar." He never took his eyes off him, and neither did the younger teen, "I'm sure if Light has any intention of killing or harming me he can restrain himself until next week."

"Have you ever handled a weapon before?" The boy from District 2 inquired.

"No." If he detected his lie, Light didn't say anything. 

"I'll go easy on him." The lighter haired brunet turned to one of the instructors, "You can intervene if it gets serious."

Such a commanding presence. He expected to be listened to and people listened to him.

L led the way to the weapons rack, "Thank you for accepting my offer."

"It isn't detrimental to me." The teen looked on the array of blades, eventually grabbing a few basic swords to test their balance and weight, "You won't learn anything about me from this."

"Is that an admission that you are not behaving as your true self?" He grabbed one he knew to be reliable, matching his choice in weapon. A sword seemed far too basic to be his weapon of choice, but that wasn't what he wanted to see.

"Not all of us have the luxury of always acting as we want." He finally settled on one, and caught his gaze again, "That doesn't make how I act a lie, merely a…facet of my personality."

"A deception." He summarized.

"Can you tell me there's not more to you than how you are acting now?" Light led the way to the platform where they could spar.

"How I am acting?" He echoed curiously.

"You act like all of this doesn't matter." The boy paused, "You act like it doesn't matter how others perceive you. You don't take the training seriously, you're not trying to look for allies, and all you have done so far is make enemies of mine. You are either wilfully ignorant of the position you are now in or suicidal. Unless there is also more to you than you care to show."

Him? Wilfully ignorant? He blinked, wondering when he had taken the time to observe him.

"Light talks a lot." He decided to say, "I've often found that to be a characteristic of those who hate to be wrong."

"Am I wrong?" He asked as he moved to stand facing him.

"When you talk that much it's possible to be both right and wrong." He kept his posture purposely relaxed, even as he raised the sword, "I would advise you not to go easy on me."

All he got was an amused chuckle.

L struck first, surprising the other with his strength. It was obvious that he had not taken his warning seriously. He managed to block his attacks with the ingrained skill of someone with years of training, but he was able to disarm him within a few seconds. As his weapon clattered to the ground he sent him a look…was he impressed?

"He who strikes first wins." He moved back into a more defensive position. He no longer had the element of surprise, but this is what he wanted to see.

He wanted to see Light try, see if he was like him in more ways than intelligence. This wasn't a meaningful competition. Those watching would understand if Light didn't fight to his full capacity. If either of them looked to be taking this too seriously, the instructor would undoubtedly end the match. 

He wanted to see how much he wanted to win. 

L hated to lose, it was human nature to want to be victorious, but he needed to see if Light would forgo his own priorities to achieve a meaningless victory. Light had been reluctant to show any skills of his, he had been polite, if a little distant, for the last few hours. He wanted to see if he would rise to the challenge even though he obviously wanted to keep as much of himself a secret as possible.

He wasn't disappointed. 

He had prepared to be on the defensive, and that is where Light kept him. He preferred to fight with his feet, so he considered himself to be quite nimble on them, but the other teen easily kept up. It was like a dance, until his shoulders started to get sore from the force the teen put into his blows.

He was going for the win.

There was no flaw in his form. His blade was like an extension of his body, and the longer they fought the more accustomed he was to its new reach. There was never a misstep. There was never an opening for a counterattack. He could feel the added gazes of more in the room as their duel demanded everyone's attention.

It was an unexpected move that did him in.

Whenever their blades locked before, Light would take that as an opportunity to retreat. This time he stepped into his space before he could step back, forcing their arms up. He then turned into him in a strange reversal of his earlier position, dropped his sword, and used the new position to throw him to the ground. His mind had the time to process the move, but not to react.

Light easily kicked his sword back into his hand and pointed it down at him, "To win you must attack."

He stared up at him, defeated. Finally, the other teen looked to be fully in the moment. There was a fire in his eyes. He looked alive instead of playing a part.

There was a smattering of applause, but neither of them looked to the source. The District 2 tribute moved into a position to offer him a hand in rising, and he accepted. The younger teen offered a genuine smile this time, and he saw that he was aptly named, "No hard feelings?"

"If I had any we both know there will be time for a rematch." He held on to his hand for a second longer than necessary, feeling a pang of regret.

Light seemed to understand he wasn't serious, despite him not changing tone or inflecting his words in a believable way. His smile did not fade as he drew his hand back and turned back to the watchers. L bent down to retrieve his own sword.

That had been a challenge. It had been some time since another challenged him that well. He didn't even need to ask if the handsome young man had any hard feelings about their duel. They had both enjoyed it. If they weren't about to fight to the death in the upcoming week, he would almost say it was fun.

It was a pity that they couldn't be friends.

Yet another grievance to add to the list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was surprisingly easier to write than I anticipated, though it was basically adapting what happened in the anime in this setting. Lol, hope you enjoyed it! Like and review if you did! Your support means a lot to me!
> 
> And if there are any mistakes, let me know in the comments!


	3. A Death Wish

Light Yagami stood on the roof as he looked out over the capitol. He hadn't meant to get caught up in a duel with the boy from District 6, but there was something about him that drew his attention. Perhaps it was his strange appearance. The slouch and unblinking eyes certainly weren't attractive, but the way he spoke to him, the way he looked at him…

At first, he had thought the older teen was flirting with him. Then he realized that was just the way he spoke. He was being genuinely honest, which he had decided to take as a compliment rather than an affront. There were a few statements that he could tell were lies, being a good liar himself he easily recognized another, but if his answers were different he would have been suspicious.

L Lawliet was different from anyone he had ever met.

His apathy bordered on defiance and there was very little of that in District 2. He hadn't said in as many words, but he obviously wasn't planning to play the game the way that the government intended. Light's entire life had been about maintaining appearances. The other teen didn't care at all for what others thought about him. 

He was going to die early. His attitude was borderline suicidal.

Why was he jealous of him then? 

He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. There were always those that said they didn't want the games to change them. They maintained that stance until someone tried to kill them and they realized that if they wanted to live they had to adapt. L said he was looking forward to his persona dropping, huh? Well, he was looking forward to seeing him break.

He wondered who would break first.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" A voice asked, and he nearly jumped.

"Ryuk." He turned around and fought to control his breathing, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Ryuk Than had won his games nearly twenty years ago. He had killed ten people and earned a nickname as the God of Death. There were rumors that he had killed outside of the games as well, but if he had it was certainly difficult to tell. He didn't care about anything other than whatever passing fancy had caught his interest that week. 

Currently, that was him. 

Which was lucky because that meant he might have some support from his mentor. He could have all the charm in the world, but it was Ryuk that would have to do the negotiating in the outside world once he was in the arena. He was hardly dependable, and he was sure any gifts of food he was gifted would be promptly eaten by him, but he was what he was given so he'd have to make it work.

"Shouldn't you show a little respect to your mentor?" The overly tall and overly pale older man grinned.

"You'd get bored of me if I did." He rolled his eyes. 

"True." He came closer and peered over his shoulder, "Enjoying the view while you can?"

"Being up here helps me think." Light admitted, turning around to also keep looking.

"Thinking about your little duel with the boy from District 6?" Ryuk chuckled, "His mentor apologized for his behavior, by the way."

"He didn't have to. I'm not mad at him." Irritated, yes, but to say that he was angry would mean that he admitted the older teen was affecting him. He hadn't meant to show off that much skill, or for his competitive streak to be revealed. Yes, he made it work to his advantage with his allies, but he hated the way L had looked satisfied with his own defeat.

"Well the sponsors were certainly impressed." The victor drawled, "Surprised the hell out of me cause you said you weren't going to show off any of your skills."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "The duel wasn't planned."

"Oh?" That got his curiosity, "I thought you had everything planned."

He thought so too, "I hadn't considered L."

"What's so special about L?" Ryuk asked.

That was the crux of the matter. What was so special about L? He shouldn't be thinking so much about a boy who was likely going to get himself killed in the first few days. There were other threats to consider. Like Naomi Misora from District 10. She was the daughter of a butcher and knew her way with knives. Or her counterpart Raye Pember…

He knew better than to underestimate those from the outer districts. 

He knew plenty of peacekeepers who were sent out there who came back injured or never came back at all. They may not be trained to fight in the traditional way he was, but what they were taught could be adapted for the arena. He was certainly concerned with the familiarity the boy from District 11 wielded a scythe and the girl from 12 threw a pickaxe.

District 6 was transportation. Knowledge of mechanics could come in handy for setting traps, but traps did little to help if they were caught up in a fight. L proved he was more familiar with weapons than he had earlier admitted, but he shouldn't have been that well trained. There were no places people outside of Districts 1 and 2 could be trained in combat.

That meant there definitely was more to the infuriating tribute than he let on.

"I don't know." He decided to go with, because it was many things yet nothing.

"Want me to talk to his mentor?" He offered," It's been awhile since I sat down and had a real chat with Aiber." 

"Don't." And that was that for their conversation. He went to bed, hoping that a good night's sleep would clear his mind of thoughts of the boy from District 6.

It did not, and he was in a bad mood at breakfast.

"Is everything alright?" Kiyomi inquired over breakfast.

"Everything's fine." He assured her, watching her believe his lie. 

That day he resolutely focused on survival skills. He had a photographic memory so it was easy to learn which plants were safe for consumption and which would kill him. He didn't like the idea of poisoning people, but again, there was a level of morality that was just stupid to have in the games. The more potent poisons were a nicer death than bleeding out from a wound.

He moved on to ropes as soon as he committed the books available to memory. He knew plenty about the subject, but it was always useful to know more.

He should have known the nuisance would return when he started on traps.

"There's a more efficient way of doing that." He'd seen L's approach, and had hoped he wouldn't speak to him.

"I know." He replied without giving him the satisfaction of his full attention, "I'd simply like to do it by the book first before attempting my own take on it." He noted the trap he was working on, definitely too close to him, "It would be more efficient if our traps were set further away from each other."

"I know." L said, and he hated that he couldn't tell if he was mocking him or not, "Do you not enjoy some conversation? I thought you would, given your alliance."

"I enjoy conversation when there is a point to it." Light gave a sign, and they both watched the little mechanical animal wander into his trap, that went off a little too slow to catch it.

"Would it have a point if I told you how to better your trap?" The infuriating older teenager was smirking, he could feel it, but he didn't look.

"Why would you help the competition?" He evaded answering, because he did not need help, and if he were to ask anyone for it, he would ask the provided instructor.

"Do you plan to kill me?" 

He let go of the rope altogether to turn to him, "I plan to win."

His dark eyes were actually not black like he'd first thought. In a different light, they were simply a dark grey. Still inscrutable, but a little more human. L brought his thumb up to his mouth as he stared at him, "Your ability to answer both yes and no once again amazes me."

"Do you plan to kill me?" He took the opportunity to ask.

"Naturally." 

He rose from his kneeling position and walked away, ending the conversation there. They were all planning to kill each other. That was the point of the games. And while it was advantageous for him to have more people who would hesitate to kill him…

That was what got to him about L. He was someone he couldn't manipulate. He was someone who likely saw through his lies.

Someone who could challenge him. An equal…

He expertly avoided him the rest of the day in a way only L could tell he was avoiding him. 

Once again, he found himself on the roof. He had never met someone he could consider an equal. Not in intelligence, not in ability, not in appearance or reputation. For as long as he'd been alive he'd been placed above everyone around him. He was the standard others could only dream of achieving. He wasn't sure if that was arrogance since many would say it was simply fact.

Perfect. L said he couldn't believe anyone could be as perfect as him.

He felt like L was his equal though. Definitely in intelligence and ability, and he wasn't unattractive if the way Kyoko from District 3 looked at him was any indication. If he put more effort into how he presented himself, he could have girls falling for him left and right. It was the reputation part that was bothering him.

No, it didn't bother him. He shouldn't be wasting so much time on him.

He might not have much left. 

The last day of training he used to finally ask one of the instructors about the weapon he liked to use. He knew there had to be some on hand, and if not the sickles could be adapted to his liking. His preference was rare, a style from a faraway land before the creation of Panem, but not too hard to describe. He sighed, accepting that the weighted chain attachment would likely not be present.

He distracted himself with hand to hand combat. A warm up for the test that would be occurring in the afternoon. Combat training was also the only way to ensure that L would not talk to him. 

"I'm sure you'll score a ten!" Misa told him as they waited for the assessments to start.

"With your skills in archery I doubt you'll score less than a seven yourself." He returned easily.

"I'm expecting a six." Mikami admitted, "My abilities are more impressive in real life."

"As are mine." Kiyomi inclined her head, "Not that scores matter. We are all skilled enough to be in this alliance."

For as long as it was useful for him to be in this alliance. He could do without the fangirls, and Mikami was starting to edge into the realm of fanboy, but he could handle a little annoyance if it meant he would be protected. Besides, he'd be the one they'd approach when they inevitably turned on each other. Rem might create an issue, but he could handle her.

It would make him look bad to double cross them but these were the games. All crimes committed within them were forgiven as soon as they were crowned victors.

He could feel L's stare, but ignored it. There was the assessment, then a day of rest, then the day of the interviews, and then they would be real enemies. Then he would be able to tell if L was going to kill him or…

Ugh, no, there wasn't an or.

He was happy to be from District 2 because he got to go sooner. He walked in, bowed to the gamemakers, then walked towards the simulators for armed combat. The weapon he had requested was present, and he picked them up. They were called kama in their native language, which had long been forgotten, but in essence they were sickle with a shorter blade.

It went well with the form of hand to hand combat he knew. 

He lost himself in the fight against the simulations. How much different would it be, to cut through flesh? How heavily would his first kill weigh on his conscience? He made sure he was constantly in motion for all of the ten minutes, showing his stamina as well as his grace in a fight. His style was largely meant to disarm, not kill, but he'd been told it looked deadly.

The price of peace was sacrifice. Without people giving up things, all of mankind would be in a constant state of war.

He shuddered at how quickly he was justifying his future kills, but with every hour what he had watched on television was going to become his reality. It scared him, because he would finally see what he was capable of.

The entire country would see what he was capable of, and either praise him as a hero or scorn him as a monster. 

When he broadened his focus to more than just his opponents, he could tell all the people in the booth were watching him. A few were taking notes on what he hoped were his weapons. At the programmed end, he pulled his training shirt off to wipe the sweat from his face. It also covered his expression so they wouldn't see the flash of annoyance at the gawking.

He just had to hold it together and he'd have all the advantages he needed to win.

"A perfect score." Ryuk grinned and patted him on the back.

He was beginning to hate that word and it was all L's fault.

L…who happened to also receive a ten.

"So he is dangerous." Kiyomi narrowed her eyes.

The one thing she agreed with Misa on was that they should eliminate the oldest in the competition as soon as possible. He didn't say anything when they were conspiring. He had nothing against these people, they'd just had the misfortune of having their names written down on a piece of paper. Again, except L, who had volunteered for this instead of a younger boy.

"Going up to the roof again?" His mentor inquired as he walked towards the elevator.

He didn't bother to respond.

He almost turned around when he saw L crouched on the bench like a frog. Almost, but he needed to think and it was better there than around Kiyomi and Ryuk. He found himself standing close to the edge once more.

"Thinking of jumping?" L's voice didn't surprise him.

"You can't jump off." He pointed to a single shimmer in the space in front of them, "There's a force field that'll stop you."

"So we truly are in a cage." His future, and possibly current, enemy muttered, "But I suppose we are no matter where we go in this country."

Another thinly veiled rebellious remark.

"It's talk like that," He turned to look at him, "That got you your score."

"I'm simply voicing the thoughts of many aloud." L raised his eyebrows in mock innocence, "I don't see why that should have me labelled as dangerous."

He crossed his arms, "I know plenty of peacekeepers that aren't alive to argue that."

"Ah yes, your father is a peacekeeper, correct?" He didn't bother nodding. If he knew his father's name, then he knew his occupation, "Does he have to deal with dissent often?"

He wasn't going to answer that. Not honestly. He shrugged, "I don't pay much attention to his job, to be honest. He is not home often, and the last thing I want to do when he finally manages to get away from work is speak of work."

He wasn't going to admit that the look in his father's eyes he'd come to recognize as loss was nearly always present. He wasn't going to tell a boy who only knew of his own district about the problems of others. A malicious part of him was tempted to. He already had a rebellious spirit. If he encouraged him a little more L would most certainly be killed in the first few days on the games.

Another part of him didn't want that to be his downfall. An even smaller part, that he was determined to ignore, protested the idea of his death at all.

"But you do not approve." L stated.

"I think disorganized terrorism won't achieve anything but unnecessary death." He guessed there were cameras somewhere on the roof. If there weren't…well, he didn't want to give L any ammunition to use against him at a later opportunity. The interviews were the next day, and he was certain they'd come up in the other's seeing as they were the only two to get the highest score.

"So you would say our deaths are necessary?" The infuriating teen asked.

"We die so that others will not." He wouldn't let his anger show. He knew it was wrong, but what else could he do but obey? "Wasn't that why you volunteered? To save another?"

"But if there were no games, neither of us would be in danger of dying." L pointed out.

"If there were no games people would lose respect for the government." Light countered.

"People would stop fearing the government." The boy from District 6 corrected.

"Semantics." He rolled his eyes, "Lack of fear, lack of respect, either would lead to anarchy."

"And from that chaos perhaps a better government would arise." His opponent said.

"How many would die for that better government? How many Hunger Games worth of children? How many failed rebellions worth of adults?" He demanded, quickly losing his patience with this conversation, "You'd have us go back into the Dark Days on the small chance of a better government? Need I remind you that the rebellion of that time failed?"

L paused for so long he almost thought he'd won their argument. He tilted his head, "Do you honestly believe that?"

"Does it matter?" He huffed, deciding that he deserved a slight victory since he didn't answer any of his counterarguments.

Conversation did stop there. He would be better off trying to think with Ryuk laughing about some nonsense. He turned and walked back to the elevator. 

"What you believe in does matter." L called after him.

"To who?" He snapped back.

There was another pause as he waited for it to reach their level, "If no one else…" The infuriating teen trailed off, "It matters to me."

Light left without saying another word.

The older teen had to have a death wish or something. Didn't he see he was only making it harder to survive for himself?

And why did he care so much that he was?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conflicted Light is so much fun to write. Next chapter will be the interviews. Should it be their perspectives of their own interviews or should it be them watching the other? Let me know!
> 
> Hope you all liked this! Still wondering how Imagay_Lightbulb managed to like this twice...oh well, thanks anyways!


	4. Interviews

L had been rather pleased with himself for his score. He had thought they were going to give him a zero for his astounding lack of effort, though he himself was impressed by how long he went without blinking. Still, he was done being watched like an animal, he hated the way they had stared down at him as if expecting him to put on a performance. 

So he’d crouched down and stared at them.

He wasn’t sure if he’d looked defiant, but they definitely looked insulted by the end of his time.

Then there’d been the conversation with Light on the roof. The elevator told them which level it was currently at. Servants weren’t allowed to use it, they had their own. Neither did they receive guests. So he’d wondered on the first night why it had gone down to two, and then up to the roof. Twice, actually. The second night it had done the same.

It could only be Kiyomi, Light, or their mentor. 

He wasn’t sure what he was hoping for when he went up there, but some part of him was satisfied to talk to the younger teen again. Perhaps it was because he looked far more beautiful standing in the soft glow of the city around him. Perhaps it was because the pensive expression on his face as he’d looked at the city made him seem softer, more real.

Then he’d gone and made him angry. Which he found he enjoyed quite a bit as well.

Light hadn’t seemed surprised by his rebellious talk, and since he was still alive he assumed that he hadn’t mentioned to anyone else what he thought. He had spent a lot of time thinking over that conversation instead of sleeping. He had tried to separate what Light truly thought from what he had said. 

Instead of calling them a rebellion, he had called them terrorists. He had refused to confirm his suspicion that there were multiple incidents involving said terrorism. He had then made the same arguments everyone else did for why the games could be justified, but then he took it a step farther to argue that too many would die if they did make a larger attempt to overthrow the government.

The Dark Days…that had wiped District 13 off the map.

Many would die, and he could see the reasoning behind such an argument. If they were fighting to stop their children from being forced into the games, but the fighting only resulted in more dead children, then it was simply a number issue. As they were, an average of about sixty people died a year. Twenty-three children and then almost double that of ‘terrorists’. 

Granted, in smaller scale rebellions the peacekeepers preferred to kill the instigators and not the entire group.

In a war, more than sixty people would die a day. 

From a numerical standpoint, it was better to simply continue as they were. A lot of people would die in a war, and if it went too far another district could be wiped out.

If they went too far, all of humanity could be wiped out.

Numbers weren’t everything.

Though Light had another, irritatingly, good point that he couldn’t promise an improved quality at the quantity sacrificed. The Dark Days had ended in failure for the opposition, and no one really knew how the government they did have came to be. Maybe there were other ways that had been tried, and failed, but he refused to believe this was the best way to run a society.

He couldn’t make any promises, but those who rebelled believed in a brighter future.

He believed a better life was attainable.

He wanted to believe that Light shared that as well. That beneath the image of perfection was a hidden rebellious streak.

If he could turn Light Yagami against the government and he ended up winning…he might actually be able to organize a rebellion.

No. They didn’t have time. Light hadn’t come to the roof after the day of rest, and he doubted he’d have another opportunity to speak freely to him. If he could have met him sooner…

But he’d never have met him if it weren’t for the games.

They only met because of shared misfortune. What else could their potential friendship end other than tragedy?

“Are you sure you want to wear that?” His designer frowned.

He looked at his outfit. The white shirt, a button up despite his protests, and the closest thing they had on hand to his working pants. He had managed to forgo shoes altogether this time, but even his stylist knew that his score was a death sentence. They all knew he probably wasn’t going to make it, so they let him do what he wanted for the interview.

“Yes.” It was comfortable, and it made him look like himself.

“Then we should head to the lineup.” Aiber smiled at him. His mentor was a good man, he was still trying to help him despite him continuing to make his circumstances worse, “I’m not even going to bother telling you what to do. You wouldn’t listen anyways.”

He blinked, and tilted his head, “But you have a request.”

“I do.” He squeezed his shoulder, “If you say what I think you’re thinking, they will cut off the broadcast and end the interviews. If you were from twelve, I wouldn’t care, but for some of these kids, this will be the last their families get to see of them until they’re dead, killed, or worse. If you care at all about them, you’ll play along for a few minutes.”

L nodded almost immediately. He didn’t plan to do anything in this interview.

They made it to where the others were waiting, a screen displaying the current interview. Misa was as bright and bubbly as ever, though it appeared Hitoshi Demegawa had gotten her started on Light. He could feel the other teen’s irritation from across the room, but he kept his reaction masked, ducking his head in false embarrassment at all the right moments, while Kiyomi tensed.

Ah, he knew Misa would be a hard one to control.

She ran out of time gushing about her new obsession. The next one up was Mikami, who came off as cold, distant, prepared. He only spoke of how he felt it was right to be there, how grateful he was that he had been chosen for such a venture. It almost made him want to gag, and he briefly made eye contact with Light.

“These are your allies?” He mouthed silently.

“That’s your outfit?” The other teen mouthed back.

He found himself smirking. At least he wasn’t completely ignoring him. 

Then he reminded himself they would soon be enemies and the smirk faded.

Light whispered something to Kiyomi that made her blush as she walked to her turn on stage, and it was his turn to roll his eyes. Honestly, was he the only one that could see that he wasn’t attracted to either girl at all? Either way his counterpart took the stage with all the grace and maturity the girl from District 1 lacked. 

All too soon it was Light’s turn, and he got ready to actually listen.

“District 2’s very own Light Yagami.” Demegawa reached in to give the other teen a handshake.

The lighting on the stage made the red of his suit seem brighter. He thought red was a fitting color for him. It caught the eye. It was bold, powerful. He wondered if the designer came up with it for him or if, in another life, a lesser man would be wearing those clothes. He watched as he sat in his seat, one of his long legs coming up to cross over the other.

“It’s a pleasure to have you here, Light.” The overweight man grinned.

“A pleasure to be here.” His…something returned as he smiled at the crowd, “I never thought I’d be able to see the capitol at this age.”

“And how are you finding it?” Demegawa asked.

“I’d love to tour it.” Light answered, his voice smoother than when they had talked, “But I suppose that can wait until after the games.”

The worst part about Light’s near arrogance was that it wasn’t unfounded. He could claim he would win, and there were few that would argue agaisnt that. 

“Ah yes, because you’ve got a promise to keep.” He loathed the man who spewed propaganda, but he wasn’t completely inept at running an interview. He knew what people wanted to see and hear, “More than a few hearts were touched by that hug at your reaping. That was your sister, right?”

Light’s smile faded into something more genuine, “Yeah. That was Sayu.”

L hadn’t thought to include family in his consideration. He was an orphan. Everyone he worked with were also orphans. There wasn’t really anyone for the government to use agaisnt them. Wammy would probably smile in a hostage situation and tell him to do what he thought was right, that he was an old man and didn’t have long to live anyways…

He wasn’t sure what he’d do if they held Wammy hostage.

And Light’s father was a peacekeeper. He had a comfortable position in District 2, but how easy would it be for him to get sent to the next riot? How easy would it be to make his death look like an on the job accident that everyone knew was on purpose? What about his mother? His sister, who was the only person he had evidence to suggest Light had any connection to?

“Anything you’d like to say to her before we get down to business?” Demegawa inquired.

“I’m going to come home.” Light looked directly into the camera with determination, “So you better not have moved into my room.” There was a smattering of laughter, and he smiled softly, “But if you have…it doesn’t matter. I love you. No matter what.”

Too vulnerable of an attachment for him to ever rebel. 

“You got anyone else at home you’re going to fight for?” The host asked after a few second’s pause.

The tribute laughed as his mask snapped back in place, “No, no girlfriend.”

“What? With a face like yours?”

“I was planning to join the peacekeeper academy when I was old enough.” He brushed a strand of hair out of his face, “Then I’d start looking for someone to share my life with when I had a stable career.”

“How responsible of you.” Demegawa smiled with false sympathy, “But plans change, huh?”

“Not necessarily.” Light glanced at the camera again, “We all do our part so our country can be the best it can be.”

Why did he insist on giving such ambiguous answers? He knew that statement was directed at him. It could be an admonition for him to stop his rebellious actions and play his part or it could be a silent encouragement to do what he thought was best for the country. It was frustrating, not knowing.

It was also exhilirating. 

The interviewee looked back to the older man, “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with it.”

Demegawa laughed, “I don’t think anyone’s ever told me they planned to have fun in the games.”

Wrong. He specifically remembered Beyond saying that very word. Granted, it had been with a different tone and he would rather forget that conversation as well.

“For some of us, these are going to be the last days of our lives.” Light relaxed a little into his seat, “I’d rather spend them with good company and not in terror, if I can.”

He tuned out the rest, glad that Misa and Kiyomi were not in the room so he didn’t have to witness their reaction to his manipulations. He’d already heard enough to keep him thinking for the rest of the night. 

Was Light trying to discourage him from rebellion? Why would he do that? If he didn’t share his opinion, he had nothing to fear for his actions dirtying his perfect image. Did that mean he did share his opinion? 

Dammit. He didn’t know.

***********************************************

Light patiently watched the interviews that came after him. Kyoko was abuzz with nervous energy. Her counterpart wasn’t much better. Rem was definitely intimidating, and Namikawa managed well enough. He had hoped to have that boy agree to their alliance, but the fourteen year old had felt threatened by Mikami and told him he would not join a group under duress.

Then there was the twelve year old from District 5 he didn’t want to know more about because they all knew she wouldn’t make it long. Then fifteen year old Higuchi, who just emanated arrogance. The only thing him and Rem agreed on was that he was a disgusting human being, though he had the potential of being dangerous.

L’s counterpart was annoying, focusing too much on what she was probably told to say to deliver the lines well. 

Then it was time for L himself.

He was dressed in a plain white shirt and dark blue dress pants that were a size too large on him. When he got to the seat he stepped onto it and crouched down, once again like a frog. He looked perfectly relaxed, because none of this mattered to him. 

“You certainly are a mysterious person, L.” Demegawa started after an awkward moment of silence.

“I didn’t intend to be.” The District 6 tribute replied apathetically.

The host chuckled, obviously unsettled by him, “Let me review for some of those watching who might not know much about you. L volunteered in place of another orphan under the same guardian as him. Your brother?”

“I wouldn’t say we are that close.” A direct contrast to him.

If they weren’t close, then why was he here? 

“But you volunteered.” Demegawa was trying. He did know how to do his job, and that was to take whatever misfortune was in front of him and make it appealing to the general audience. It was disgusting, “Was it because of your other brother?”

That got a reaction. L’s eyes hardened, but he doubted anyone could tell, “I wouldn’t call Beyond a brother either.”

Beyond…surely he didn’t mean Beyond Birthday? Now that the name was brought up he could see the resemblance to the teen from a few years back. Except he didn’t have an ounce of the insanity the younger did. He didn’t seem capable of that level of emotion. Perhaps they shared the rebellious thoughts, but he hoped he wasn’t that wrong about L that he couldn’t sense sadism.

Did he volunteer to make up for not volunteering for the other boy? He didn’t think L the type to suffer from a guilty conscience, but perhaps it was different with the boys he lived with. Close or not, there was always a slight feeling of responsibility whenever something bad happened that could have been prevented had he acted. 

“I’m certain everyone here remembers Beyond Birthday?” Demegawa asked the crowd, “Or rather, if I recall right, he was nicknamed Deathday.”

A terrible nickname but that was the capitol. And it was a fitting one. If the gamemaker hadn’t taken him out it was likely he’d have earned a reputation more fearsome than Ryuk’s. Light had to fight back a shudder just remembering his insanity. Not only did he kill and mutilate the other tributes, but he would also fight to injure.

Then he would laugh and let them live, cheerily informing them it wasn’t their time to die.

“Beyond was always an irrational boy.” L was tense, defensive, and he wished he had done more research into him so this wasn’t coming as a surprise, “And he always resented me. Besides appearance, I don’t think we are similar at all.”

“Whatever can be said about him, he was an incredible fighter.” The host nodded to himself, “Are you saying you don’t share that? With the score you earned?”

“I didn’t do anything special.” The tribute said, “Nor am I the only one with that score.”

“But some think you’ll be able to challenge Light Yagami.” Demegawa said, “He is the favorite going into this and we’d all like to see a good fight.”

There was no time to ask L about Beyond. Tomorrow they would be in the arena.

“What was it Light said earlier?” His dark gaze focused on the camera, as if he could somehow see him, “We all have to do our parts?” He hadn’t expected a response, and he could feel Kiyomi and Ryuk watching him, “I suppose if my part is to be his opponent, then I’ll have to follow his advice.”

“Are you challenging him?”

“If it’s a fight he wants…then yes.”

Light couldn’t care less about what happened after that.

He knew that his earlier statement could be taken in many ways, and he himself wasn’t sure what he meant so L wouldn’t know either. His talk of rebellion was insane, but tempting nonetheless. 

But it appeared the older teen was leaving it up to him. 

If he continued as he was, they were fated to be enemies. The two of them would find themselves pitted against each other until only one of them remained. 

He recalled that the way Beyond killed and humiliated was openly traitorous. 

What better hope could he give a hopeless rebellion than killing someone like him? The son of their enemy, a supporter of their oppressor. 

Still, the way he had said it. If it was a fight he wants…as if there was an option for there to not be a fight between them. L had told him, that night, that his beliefs mattered to him. Was that his way of trying to recruit him? Was he dangling the chance of an alliance in front of him?

An alliance and a death sentence.

“You’ve already beaten him.” Kiyomi told him.

He smiled, “Oh, I’m not worried about him.”

Well, not about beating him. He was certain that in a physical fight in the arena he could overpower him, but the part of him that was reluctant to kill him grew stronger with every conversation, face to face or otherwise, that they engaged in. If push came to shove, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to be the one that killed him.

He could, however, arrange his death at the hands of one of his allies.

His beliefs were not worth the lives of his family. They didn’t matter.

He strengthened his resolve. He had always played his part, why would this be any different? 

L was just another obstacle in his way. He refused to let him be the obstacle that stopped him.

No matter how much he secretly enjoyed his presence in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently experiencing the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon with the word traipse...didn't know it existed until I read through the whole summary for Ivory Tower by Smritz and looked it up. Now it's appearing everywhere and it's off-putting because I keep saying trapeze in my head which is most definitely not what it means.
> 
> So thank you for that, Smritz.
> 
> Thank you everyone else for reading this and taking the time to like and comment! Y'all are great!


	5. Bloodbath

Light tested the rang of motion in his outfit, finding it to his satisfaction. His designer continued to tell him about the durability of the fabric and how it would help him against exposure, but he focused on breathing. In under ten minutes he would be in the arena. His hand came up to absently rub at the tracker they’d placed in his arm. 

This was it.

The bloodbath at the cornucopia, likely the deadliest day of the games.

He had allies, but he had no idea where they would be in the circle at the start. He was fast, but there was always a chance desperation would make another faster. He could wield any weapon, but he would prefer his weapon, that had to be out there after the performance he gave. He also had to secure the bow for Misa because she was picky.

That wasn’t even brushing the issue of what environment they would be in.

It was typically a forest of some sort. Trees were easy cover, and easy places to hide cameras so they could be watched. There was also normally a large water source to try and draw people together like animals, along with the clearing where the cornucopia was. But things like temperature, weather, area, topography…that couldn’t be known or planned for in advance.

Ryuk had told him there were rumors of another alliance forming in response to his apparent strength.

If his group didn’t claim the cornucopia, there was no guarantee they would be able to meet up. Not without risking running into the enemy first. 

“It’s almost time.” The stylist said.

It’s the first words he’s truly heard since looking in the mirror and seeing the outfit he could very well die in.

“Thank you.” He smiled at the man, “For everything you’ve done for me this week.”

“It was my pleasure.” He smiled back, “Don’t let such a pretty face get ruined in there, alright?” He stepped forward and pressed something into his hand, “I’m rooting for you.”

It was the pocket watch his father had gifted him before he’d left for the capitol. He’d nearly forgotten it. He held it closer to him and quickly opened the small compartment to see the picture of his family. He hadn’t bothered to try and have a weapon hidden in his keepsake. He’d much rather have an anchor for his sanity.

He was going to need it.

On average, eight to twelve people died on the first day. A third to half of the tributes might not live to see the next day. Light forced himself to breath, even as he silently got onto the platform that would raise him into the arena. He closed his eyes and inhaled as it started to move. He was going to be fine. He was trained for this. He was going to go home.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing on top of a mountain. Not a tall enough mountain to cause altitude sickness or make it harder to breath, nor was it too steep to risk jumping, but still a mountain. It looked like there were forests along the sides, but there were also rocky areas and waterfalls. He didn’t trust there not to be more hidden within the landmass either.

Still, he could work with a mountain for the moment.

They had put their platforms in order, so Kiyomi was on his left and Kyoko was on his right. That meant he didn’t have to worry about attacks on his left. Three of his allies were there. He could overpower Kyoko if need be, and if Namikawa was as smart as he thought he was he would run away.

Rem could take care of herself.

Twenty seconds passed quickly, but the closer they got to zero the slower time seemed to pass.

He caught sight of the kama sticking slightly out of a bag a third of the way around the circle from him. Which meant they were advantageously closer to L. When he looked up to see what his opponent was looking at he saw he was also looking back at him. He purposely flickered his gaze to the bag and smirked.

The bastard. 

L had the youngest in the competition and his own counterpart closest to him. He was certain Higuchi would try to eliminate Rem, and Takahashi from District 7 had been talking to the District 5 tribute too often for him not to suspect them of the alliance Ryuk warned him about. He assumed Mido from 8 and Hatori from 9 were in on it too, though Kida from 11 was the only one with any fighting skill amongst them.

He was sure that alliance would come to regret not considering the girls worthy of joining them.

Ten seconds until the deadliest part of the games started.

How long would it take for him to kill someone? 

Eight seconds left.

Could he even deal with that on his conscience? How easily would he justify it?

Five seconds. 

He made eye contact with L again, regretting that he’d never gone to the roof again. He wasn’t sure if the other boy had but he’d have liked to have spoken to him one last time. Even if it annoyed the hell out of him.

Two seconds.

Light smiled. L froze.

And the games began. 

He took off running in the direction of the bag meant for him. No false starts this year. Good. He did not want to see what an explosion would do to this mountain. There was yelling all around him, but he stayed silent, even as he heard the inevitable sounds of bodies dropping. He didn’t look back, planning to use the other genius’ moment of distration to get what he wanted.

He armed himself with a knife as he ran by. Mikami and Kiyomi were the ones tasked with securing a position close to the cornucopia and making sure Misa acquired the weapon she needed. It was the only place where they’d have something guarding their backs. Once they had that they were free to take out anyone that lingered. Rem would be protecting Misa.

Light rolled out of the way of Takahashi’s obvious attempt to tackle him. He heard him crash to the ground with a pained wheeze, but kept running. At this rate he would likely reach the backpack at the same time as L.

Except he was on a collision course with Hatori. He had to slow down to get a good enough stance to throw him to the side, where he collided with the girl from 12. Yuki, if he remembered right. He took half a second to consider it before throwing the knife to where they were on the ground. If they were fighting each other they wouldn’t be after him.

The fighting seemed to calm around him as he faced L. He already had the bag on his back.

Light was faster, if L turned his back on him and tried to run he would have uninhibited access to the weapon he wanted. L knew better than to fight him with his weapon of choice. He had trained with that for years, he knew how to fight against it. A fist fight would force him to abandon the backpack for the sack of mobility. 

In his peripheral vision, he noted Kida from 11 aiming a spear at L.

A fist fight it was.

He ran at L and tackled him to the ground. If that just so happened to cause the spear to fly over both their heads, so be it. He was certain he’d disguised it well enough as a punch. They rolled on the ground for a moment, before L kicked him off.

Damn, his kicks hurt.

L glanced at the spear, then back at him as he rose, “So you do want to fight.”

“I want that weapon.” He took a stance.

“Can you not use another weapon?” The older teen muttered petulantly, reaching behind him to pull them out. 

This was a fight, not a conversation. 

He rushed forward, and L swung. He was already close enough to stop the motion of his arm, quickly forcing him to drop it. In return he swiped his legs out from under him, but he allowed himself to fall, using the grip he had on him to drag him down with him. He grabbed the kama and rolled away, his objective met even if he would have preferred having both.

“You deserve a better death than the bloodbath.” He knelt, very aware of the ongoing fights around them.

L had pulled the other kama out, matching his pose, though his eyes were confused. 

He meant what he said. L didn’t deserve to die here. That would be a stain on both their reputations. He rose and easily blocked Takahashi’s next attempt at trying to kill him. He turned his back on perhaps his greatest opposition, curious to see if he would return his earlier courtesy. 

By the time he was able to look back, he was gone.

He’d probably regret that later. 

He heard Kiyomi shout, and quickly disarmed the other kid, kicking the weapon off the side of the mountain. He turned and ran to where she was. Another opponent he was leaving alive, but he was a skilled enough fighter to not find any of their attacks a major threat. 

Self-defense was the best justification for many of the other tributes. It was kill or be killed.

Careers didn’t have that. They were too well trained for their kills to be anything but murder.

His allies had secured the position as planned, and he saw the group they were up against.

Higuchi, Namikawa, Takahashi, Mido, Kida. Five against five.

The boy from District 5 had managed to cut his counterpart. He quickly picked up a dagger and threw it at him. Namikawa noticed and intervened.

He twirled the kama as he got closer, “Are you alright, Kiyomi?”

“I’m fine.” She smiled at him. 

“We’re outmatched.” Kida pointed out, even as the others in his group began to run away.

Higuchi glared at him, before following the other boys.

“Should we go after them?” Mikami inquired as Misa’s arrow slammed into Takahashi’s retreating back. He winced when the boy remained motionless.

The girl from 1 didn’t even looked affected by the fact that she had killed. She just looked at him expectantly. He didn’t let his inner turmoil show. He was now the leader of a group of killers, any weakness would result in his death.

“Not yet.” Light decided, forcing himself to relax now that they had claimed the cornucopia. He could do this, “Gather the supplies in one area.”

“What are you going to do?” Rem inquired.

Eight cannon shots fired, announcing the end of the bloodbath and how many lives it had claimed.

“I’m going to see who’s left in the competition.” There was still time before the sunset and their names were broadcasted. He’d much rather know now whether or not anyone likely to come back was still alive or not. He also wanted to see how who was left killed. How the tributes died wouldn’t be revealed to them later.

“I killed the boy from 3.” The girl from 4 told him.

He simply nodded, and went to the first figure on the ground.

Misa’s shot had been good. The boy from 7 was dead. He then noticed that Hatori had been stabbed multiple times, likely with the knife he had left there. That meant the girl from 12 was armed. He closed the boy’s eyes, and moved on to the next body.

“P-please.” It was the twelve year old. She was lying in a growing pool of her own blood, and looked absolutely terrified, “D-don’t.”

He knelt by her side. There was nothing he could do, and it would be cruel to extend her life beyond the few minutes she had left. He took her hand in his, “I’m not going to hurt you.” He promised, feeling her squeeze weakly.

He felt like vomiting. Her eyes focused on him as he helped her sit up a little, making breathing slightly easier for her, “Light.”

What was her name? He’d been ignoring it but he had to have heard it before.

“Hikari.” He smiled softly.

“I-I’m scared.” She whispered.

They were all scared. He was just good at hiding it. He ran a hand through her hair soothingly, resisting the urge to scold her. She was only twelve, she should have run away. She had no hope of winning, but…he took a calming breath, “Don’t be.” He couldn’t say she would be alright, nor did he personally believe in an afterlife, “It won’t hurt soon.”

“A-are you…” Her eyes were a nice blue. He’d always found that color soothing, though his life was constantly filled with red, “Are you gonna win?”

“I am.” 

“Can you give it back?” Hikari asked, “In person?”

It took him a second to puzzle what she meant, before he nodded, “I will.”

She managed a shaky smile, “Thanks.” Before her eyes slowly closed. It took a minute or so more for her breathing to stop, and then the bleeding slowed to a stop as well.

The games meant death. He hadn’t killed her personally, but he’d been helpless to protect an innocent. 

Light knew he was pressed for time, and he noted the chain around her neck. He slowly pulled on it until it revealed a little sun medallion. Her family probably worked for one of the solar energy plants. He carefully took it off her and wrapped it around his own neck, “I’ll get this to your family.” He said for the sake of the cameras.

The girl from 6’s body was lying not too far from there with a similar wound. It took a little more walking than he’d have liked before he noted the bodies of the girls from 9 and 11. Mari and Shiori if he wasn’t mistaken. The last he found was Shimura from 12, who looked like he’d been killed by someone without a weapon.

He didn’t think there was anyone strong enough or skilled enough to do that, but a quick check revealed his neck had been snapped.

Still, eight were dead. Four boys, four girls. None of his allies, and L was still out there.

“I thought your item from home was a watch.” Misa tilted her head at the necklace.

“Hikari wasn’t dead yet.” He told them, “She asked if I would return this to her family, and I hope the rest of you will fulfill that promise should I not make it.”

“Hikari was the little girl…” Mikami clenched a fist, “Who was it?”

“It was Higuchi.” Kiyomi’s lip curled in distaste, “I saw him kill both girls on either side of him.”

“Then we go after Higuchi’s group first.” Light decided, before going to the edge to be alone with his thoughts.

He didn’t want to kill innocents, but Higuchi had gladly stained his hands with the blood of other children. He wasn’t so innocent anymore.

As he stared out over the new terrain, creating a mental map of any landmarks he could see, he let himself feel a little relief. Whether it was for simply being alive or not having to kill someone yet he didn’t know. Maybe it was a relief at having an obvious enemy to fight, a task to focus on. He glanced up at the retrieval ships for the bodies. 

To think, it had only been an hour…

***********************************************

L had wanted the backpack because Light had wanted the backpack. It was an obvious ploy by the gamemakers to make them fight early on, but still, it was a nice backpack. It had a blanket to keep him warm at night, a water bottle with a purifying packet, and some rations. It wasn’t like he had to make it long. Then there was the weird sickle that Light had wanted.

Not enough to kill him, but enough to challenge him.

Before turning his back on him. 

He’d probably regret not taking the chance to at least injure him at that moment, but he did technically save his life if that tackle had been intentional. He also had a point.

Dying on day one was pathetic for people like them.

On his way down the mountain, he noted it was littered with caves. He wondered if any were tunnels, but decided the last place he wanted to be was inside the mountain. The gamemakers had too much control in there. He didn’t want a tunnel to ‘collapse’ on him should he go in too far. However, he didn’t want to get crushed by a rockslide at the bottom either.

So he sat in a cave and considered his options.

He still intended to kill the career pack, and if Light got in his way he couldn’t afford to let him live…

All he could think about was the way he’d smiled at him right before the fifty seconds were over. It was almost wistful, and for a moment he imagined he regretted their circumstances as much as he did.

The few seconds he’d been paralyzed by that smile almost led to one of their deaths.

But that wasn’t top priority.

“I thought you would be better at hiding.” He said loudly.

Wedy dropped to the cave entrance, “Maybe I was waiting for you to see me.”

“Yes, because you need an invitation into this lovely cave of mine.” He rolled his eyes, noting that she hadn’t taken anything from the cornucopia.

In retrospect, a wise decision.

“It’s better than sneaking up on you when you have whatever that is.” The girl from District 7 narrowed her eyes at it, “I was pretty sure you wouldn’t kill me.”

“I’m not interested in an alliance.” L drawled, wondering if she would just leave or try to overpower him in some way.

“Neither was I.” The blond shrugged, “But with the careers and Higuchi’s group, I thought it might be nice to have someone watch my back.”

“Higuchi’s group?” He asked.

“Yeah, he basically got every boy from 4 to 12 to agree to team up against the careers. I overheard my mentor talking it over with Takahashi.” She leaned against the opposite cave wall, “Apparently he thinks girls are weak so he wasn’t going to ask any of them. Not sure how many ended up joining it but until that crumbles I figured we’d both benefit from the company.”

So this would be a game of alliances. Granted, it meant they wouldn’t have to hunt everyone down individually, and the drama within groups was always popular with the capitol…

“I don’t think I’m the best company.” He replied.

“Well you’re the smartest guy in the games.” She shrugged, “If anyone has a plan that’ll beat them, it’s you.”

“And afterwards?” Because it was the after part of the alliance that was the worst.

“We go our own ways and hope we don’t have to kill each other?” Wedy smiled like that was a good plan.

Sadly, it was what they likely had to do, “Fair enough.” He reached into his bag and tossed her some of the food.

“I have to ask.” She finally sat down, “Do you have a secret alliance with Light or something?”

“No.” L sighed.

“Then why didn’t you kill him when you had the chance?” And of course, she had seen that too. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to follow him.

“I don’t know.” He answered honestly.

“Well you better figure it out before you get me killed.” She grumbled, and then they ate in silence. The rest of the day passed peacefully enough, and he wandered outside to see who was killed. It started with the boy from 3, so that meant the careers were safe. The next to be shown dead were the girls from 5 and 6. Then Wedy’s counterpart.

“Hm.” She looked at his picture, “Maybe he didn’t join them.”

He didn’t say anything. Both of the tributes from 8 made it through, but both from 9 were dead. 10 made it through as well, but the girl from 11 was dead, as was the boy from 12. That left five possible boys for the other alliance, an even match for the five careers. Though not a match for their skills.

“Light will eliminate Higuchi’s group.” He decided, “We should focus on how we are going to defeat his.”

He wondered how many, if any, of those eight deaths were at Light’s hands before shaking his head. They’d entered the arena and soon all morals would be tossed aside in favor of living. Light wouldn’t hesitate to remove threats to his victory. He shouldn’t hesitate either to do what he had decided to.

“I hope you have a plan.” Wedy muttered.

“I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That moment when I just use the wikipedia page of Death Note characters to name people and that list contains characters from all versions of Death Note. So technically none of those named are OC's. Here's a list for anyone curious. 
> 
> DIB= Died in Bloodbath
> 
> 1B- Teru Mikami  
> 1G- Misa Amane  
> 2B- Light Yagami  
> 2G- Kiyomi Takada  
> 3B- unnamed (DIB)  
> 3G- Kyoko  
> 4B- Reiji Namikawa  
> 4G- Rem  
> 5B- Kyosuke Higuchi  
> 5G- Hikari (DIB)  
> 6B- L Lawliet  
> 6G- unnamed girl (DIB)  
> 7B- Eiichi Takahashi (DIB)  
> 7G- Wedy  
> 8B- Shingo Mido  
> 8G- Linda  
> 9B- Arayoshi Hatori (DIB)  
> 9G- Mari (DIB)  
> 10B- Raye Pember  
> 10G- Naomi Misora  
> 11B- Masahiko Kida  
> 11G- Shiori (DIB)  
> 12B- Suguru Shimura (DIB)  
> 12G- Yuki
> 
> Yeah, I know technically Hikari and Yuki were guys but I ran out of girl characters I want to use at this stage in the story.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
